Business / Companies
Zesa Holdings to deal with bill anomalies
13 Aug 2011 at 21:39hrs | Views
ZESA HOLDINGS has taken delivery of new electricity billing equipment worth US$2,5 million in line with efforts to improve the country's power utility, The SundayMail report.
The equipment, which was delivered to Zesa's warehouse in Harare's Southerton industrial area last Friday, clears the way for the introduction of prepaid meters later this year.
In an interview, Zesa Holdings spokesman Mr Fullard Gwasira said the system will be commissioned by September 1.
He said it was the first step towards eliminating challenges associated with estimated bills.
"The new system is currently used in the United States of America, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya and Spain for billing," he said.
"Its benefits are such that customers will witness a greatly improved billing system. It will correct all the anomalies which were being witnessed by customers on the old system.
"The system will remove the high figures which sometimes cropped up on the old system."
Mr Gwasira said the purchase of the equipment marked the first phase of the introduction of the prepaid metering regime under which customers will pay for electricity in advance.
He said it has the capacity to connect up to one million customers and enable customers to access bill information countrywide via satellite banking halls.
The prepaid meters will be in place before the end of this year, he added.
"These will enable customers to manage their own consumption of electricity. It allows us to honour our debts to suppliers and, in the same breath, provide better quality of service due to better revenue inflows.
"For the customer, you are able to contain your debt and manage consumption according to your cash flows.
"The system leads to better management of electricity consumption and will put to rest all the problems associated with billing which have bedevilled the utility for the past two years."
For some time now, domestic electricity users have been fighting Zesa Holdings' billing system, which is based on estimated power consumption, arguing they were being forced to pay for units they never consumed.
Some customers have continued to receive outrageously high bills that do not tally with consumption
The equipment, which was delivered to Zesa's warehouse in Harare's Southerton industrial area last Friday, clears the way for the introduction of prepaid meters later this year.
In an interview, Zesa Holdings spokesman Mr Fullard Gwasira said the system will be commissioned by September 1.
He said it was the first step towards eliminating challenges associated with estimated bills.
"The new system is currently used in the United States of America, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya and Spain for billing," he said.
"Its benefits are such that customers will witness a greatly improved billing system. It will correct all the anomalies which were being witnessed by customers on the old system.
"The system will remove the high figures which sometimes cropped up on the old system."
He said it has the capacity to connect up to one million customers and enable customers to access bill information countrywide via satellite banking halls.
The prepaid meters will be in place before the end of this year, he added.
"These will enable customers to manage their own consumption of electricity. It allows us to honour our debts to suppliers and, in the same breath, provide better quality of service due to better revenue inflows.
"For the customer, you are able to contain your debt and manage consumption according to your cash flows.
"The system leads to better management of electricity consumption and will put to rest all the problems associated with billing which have bedevilled the utility for the past two years."
For some time now, domestic electricity users have been fighting Zesa Holdings' billing system, which is based on estimated power consumption, arguing they were being forced to pay for units they never consumed.
Some customers have continued to receive outrageously high bills that do not tally with consumption
Source - The SundayMail
